netflix

Earlier this morning, ABC Networks, which are owned by Disney, dumped the hit TV revival of Roseanne, announcing their would be no second season because of a series of racist tweets by star and creator, Roseanne Barr.

Roseanne tweeted inappropriate comments comparing a former member of Barack Obama’s staff to an ape – among other insane comments bashing Muslims and Hillary supporters.

Despite the backlash, Netflix has announced that they will “gladly” pick-up the cancelled series for continuation.

“We have no problems with what Roseanne said in her tweets – those are her personal opinions, and they have nothing to do with making money, which she is very, very good at,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. “ABC hadn’t seen numbers like hers in years, and they were absolutely stupid to dump it while she’s still hot. We have already decided to add Roseanne to our platform, and know that our viewers will be ecstatic.

Although parts of the new season were already shot before the show was cancelled, there were no completed episodes, and Hastings has said they will start from scratch, but that viewers will be “very excited” by the changes.

“For starters, we want to push it to a TV-MA rating, which we think is more real, and will connect more with viewers,” said Hastings. “But we have some other changes as well, it’s all very early in talks, but it’s happening. We don’t care at all about Roseanne herself being a racist pig, we just want to offer the best programming available.”

In what they are calling a “simple change,” Netflix announced that they play to move away from the “expensive” ad-free model they currently have, and move towards an ad-based model that would reduce monthly costs for consumers, much like competitors Hulu and Crackle.

“One of the biggest complaints we get is our high cost,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. ” The second biggest complaint is that there aren’t enough commercials. I know, I know. You don’t believe that second one, but it’s true.”

Hastings said that the company has spent the last 5 months partnering with companies who plan to run 10-30 second commercials before and after shows, as well as at periodic points in any show or movie longer than one hour.

“For our customers who do not want commercials, and prefer to keep their streaming service as it is, we will have that option, but unfortunately, the price will go up for that,” said Hastings. He did not confirm the upgraded cost.

“On the plus side, the cost for ad-based streaming will go down to $3.99 a month for HD, and 4.99 for 4K. We really believe in this model, and think that our customers will, too,” said Hastings.

DVD Netflix, which many of you are learning still exists just by reading this sentence, will still send commercial-free, retail versions of DVDs and Blu-rays.

Netflix, everyone’s favorite streaming platform, has – as of late – become an internet joke. For every person who absolutely loves the service, another ten people complain about the lack of new movies and original content, noting that the service often fills their back catalog with old titles and cheap B-movies.

It’s because of this feedback that Netflix has announced their most drastic change since the company began nearly 20 years ago. Starting in June, Netflix say they will completely phase out their licensing agreements with Hollywood studios, and instead rely solely on original, Netflix-created content.

“This change will be our biggest yet, but we’re also betting that it will be the most positive,” said CEO Reed Hastings. “Our numbers for original programming like Stranger Things and Orange is the New Black are through the roof, whereas the film selection are often very sparing. Focusing on original content will help us align ourselves as, essentially, the TV network that everyone is watching.”

Hastings did say that although they are going to do away with licensing of Hollywood movies, it doesn’t mean they are going to stop bringing in shows that have been re-branded for Netflix.

“Black Mirror brings in huge numbers for us, and although it’s not a Netflix original, it is the only place to stream the show here in the United States,” said Hastings. “We will continue to run that show, as well as bringing in other series that air outside of the country. We will also be co-producing new episodes in partnership with the BBC.”

So far, comments on the change have been positive, with nearly everyone excited about having a provider that focuses exclusively on original content, and isn’t bogged down with filling space with dead items. Hastings also noted that DVD Netflix, the service that delivers physical media to users’ mailboxes, will go unchanged.

Netflix, one of the world’s largest media companies, has just announced that they have purchased the popular illegal torrent website The Pirate Bay. TPB, as its commonly known, is one of the biggest sources of illegal online traffic, providing links for downloads of movies, music, pornography, and even textbooks.

Of the top 200 links on the website, 40 of them are Netflix properties, including the lastest film in the Child’s Play series, as well as Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, and several stand-up comedy specials. With the knowledge that many of their owned works were being bootlegged, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he decided the best course of action was to buy the site.

“A lot of these websites, they claim to have some sort of principles, like they aren’t in it for the money, but for the freedom of information,” said Hastings. “Frankly, that’s bullshit. Of course they’re in it for the money. No one does anything without an endgame, and theirs was to get rich on someone else’s work – in this case movies, music, and TV. Knowing that, I went to them with an offer, and they accepted.”

Although the details of the deal were not made public, sources speculate that the purchase probably cost Netflix somewhere in the nature of $250 million. Their plans are to keep the site active, and charge users on a per-download basis.

“No use shutting it down entirely, that would be stupid,” said Hastings. “Instead, we’re going to keep it going, but no one will be taking our product anymore. They can pay for it like everyone else.”

After a series of memes was released online comparing the scientific background of TV host Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”) and action star Dolph Lundgren, Netflix has decided to replace Nye on his own show, Bill Nye Saves The World, with Lundgren.

“We really wanted someone who knew what they were talking about, from a scientific perspective, when we decided to create this series,” says Netflix representative Mario Jones. “After it went online, though, many people began to complain that Nye was not qualified to host a series, at least not compared to Dolph Lundgren. We found it odd, but if there’s one thing Netflix does right, it’s create shows people want to watch.”

Although not 100% accurate (Lundgren studied chemistry at Washington State, but did not receive a degree from the school), this internet meme compared the qualifications of Bill Nye and Dolph Lundgren

To their credit, the internet is mostly right. Dolph Lundgren, best known for roles in the Rocky franchise and in The Expendables films, both co-starring Sylvester Stallone, does have an impressive scientific background, with multiple degrees in varying sciences. Lundgren, whose IQ is 160, says he is “excited” to host the show, but sad for Bill Nye.

“I don’t know the guy, he seems alright. He hosted a show for a long time, but back then, there was no internet, so it was hard for people to be so vocal and critical,” said Lundgren. “I hope that when I take over the show for the next season, people will be happy with the information, and find me qualified to deliver it.”

The series will be renamed Dolph Lundgren Punches You In The Face With Science when it returns in 2018.

The new series from Netflix, 13 Reasons Why, which deals with the aftermath of a young teen who commits suicide, has apparently ‘triggered’ thousands of teenagers across the country to kill themselves.

“It’s shocking, really, that our little girl killed herself,” said Mary Lambert, 50, a mother of three whose oldest daughter, 19-year-old Alyssa killed herself last week. “We didn’t know she was even watching the show, let alone depressed in the first place. It’s really just the pits.”

Netflix says that the show is not designed for children and teens, but many kids have reported watching it anyway.

“I wasn’t really depressed before I watched the show, but then as I watched, I saw how much everyone actually cared after the girl killed herself, and I was like ‘Damn!’,” said Hannah, age 15. “I didn’t kill myself, at least not yet. Depends on how the show keeps going. I’m only like 5 episodes in.”

Many people are saying that it is “irresponsible” of Netflix to provide such content to teens, and not even offer a warning or a resource label with 800-numbers or websites that can help, much like other shows and movies have done that deal with heavy subjects.

Netflix says that they’re “very sorry” to hear that so many teens are killing themselves after watching the show.

“It’s a shame that teens are taking the wrong message from our show,” said Netflix spokesman Kyle Chandler. “It’s even worse for them now, because we just confirmed that we are going to continue the story with a season 2.”

Betty White has always said that she plans to work up until the day she dies, and at 96 years young, she’s not kidding. The actress, who is perhaps best known for her role on the 80s sitcom The Golden Girls, says that she has inked a deal with Netflix, who acquired the rights to the show from NBC, to appear once again as her iconic character, Rose Nylund, for a series reboot filming this year.

The original series starred White, Bea Arthur, Estelle Getter, and Rue McClanahan – all of whom have passed on, save for White. The rebooted series will star White, but so far no other cast members have been announced.

“The original series ended, and then we went on to film The Golden Palace for awhile, but then that one ended, too,” said White. “I have only seen the pilot script for the reboot, but it’s very funny. It takes place in the same house. A woman outbids Rose for Blanche’s house at an auction, but the two become friends and end up moving into the place together. Then, Rose’s daughter, who is now in her 60s, moves in as well, along with her 30-something daughter. The house is full once more, and the story really is a laugh riot.”

White says that she signed on for the initial 6 episodes, but doesn’t know much more about the story or the characters.

“It didn’t take much coaxing to get me to play Rose one more time,” said White. “I truly cannot wait.”

Netflix, which has long since become most people’s go-to source for home entertainment, says that they will be launching a price increase this summer, battling rival companies such as Hulu and Amazon, as well as cable providers for rich, new content.

“The problem that we’re facing is that we’re sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into buying some of these movies and TV series, and we’re just not bringing in new subscribers fast enough,” said Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix. “When you spend millions of dollars to bring shit like Friends to Netflix, you hope that someone wants to watch it – then you remember it’s one of the worst shows to have ever been on television, and you realize that people aren’t rushing out in droves to spend money on nostalgia.”

The nostalgia comment has proven to be especially true lately, as ratings on Netflix for their shows bringing back 90s sitcoms, such as Fuller House have proven to be abysmal.

“We really wanted Fuller House to be the reason that people signed up for Netflix again, or came to us for the first time,” said Hastings. “We didn’t realize that, in the end, people just don’t care about Bob Saget. Thank God we still have House of Cards to fall back on.”

Hastings says that the company plans to have several tiers for streaming, much like now, but that the prices will fall “somewhere closer to $30” per account.

Despite horrendous reviews, Fuller House has been a monster hit this week for Netflix. So much so that the streaming service has announced that they have made a deal with everyone’s favorite trashy comedian, Roseanne Barr, to re-launch her extremely successful sitcom.

“We are extremely happy that Roseanne will be returning to television, and the best thing is, it will be on our service, so it can be even raunchier and trashier than it was in the 80s and 90s,” said Netflix CEO Bill Hastings. “Roseanne is equally excited to bring back most of the cast of the original show, and catch everyone up on where the Connors have been these years.”

The show will take place in the present day, with Roseanne having her two daughters move back into the house where they all grew up, now complete with families of their own.

“It’s great, because the more people in the house, the trashier it will be,” said Roseanne. “We left the series on a really high note, but with a really heavy, down theme. At the time, it’s what I wanted. Now, though, I want to bring the light back. There’s some stuff I would have done differently, but in the end, this show will be so fucking great.”

Netflix has been creating waves with their original programming, and even this week started the revival series Fuller House, a new version of the popular series Full House. It seems that Netflix is continuing with the trend of picking up old TV shows, as they announced today that they are in production on a new season of the former TLC series Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

“We absolutely loved the show, Honey Boo Boo, and all the other characters that millions of people watched every single week,” said Netflix production manager Joel Hodgkins. “It’s not Honey’s fault that her mom was sleeping with a pedophile, and that the show got cancelled as a result. So, what we’re doing is bringing the show back for a new season, but this time, it will all be Honey Boo Boo, no Mama Jean.”

According to Netflix, the show will begin filming in summer of 2016, and will follow the adventures of Honey Boo Boo as she starts 4th grade.